


Ricochet

by Depreshroom



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Additional tags will be added, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I hope, I like to think it's somewhat fluffy, Whump, tags will probably be updated every 5 or 6 chapters, troll jim because I say so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28623378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Depreshroom/pseuds/Depreshroom
Summary: Krel realized he wasn't the normal, but at the same time he wasn't that special either. Not really. So when he ends up stuck between the choice of Arcane Order, who were notorious for trying to destroy the world apparently and his friends, who were obviously good to have around despite some of their actions, he only had one question.Why him?
Relationships: Claire Nuñez & Krel Tarron, Claire Nuñez & Steve Palchuk, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Archie, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Claire Nuñez, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Nari, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe, Krel Tarron & The Arcane Order, Steve Palchuk & Krel Tarron, Toby Domzalski & Claire Nuñez, Toby Domzalski & Jim Lake Jr., Toby Domzalski & Krel Tarron, Toby Domzalski & Steve Palchuk
Comments: 27
Kudos: 40





	1. In the crowd

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of just a prologue to kick-off everything, and I hope someone out there likes it! :)

It had been a long day, to say the least.

All Krel had wanted was to go home, and lay there forever. Actually, he didn’t want to lay there forever--just a long, long time but that’s not the point. Instead of immediately laying in his bed after Aja and Varvatos left back to akiridion-5, he had to go to the nearest tech store to look for parts because  _ someone  _ just had to get his robot head cut off in the doorway. Thanks, Ricky.

Then of course, being a loyal citizen, or rather loyal  _ hero _ to Arcadia, his world decided to fall apart all at once as some ‘demigods’ as Toby had called them decided to freeze him in an ice block for Seklos knows how long. Within what seemed like an hour, he watched a wizard named Douxie die as well as the other human Toby seemed fond of. Well, a human...that looked like a troll, or a troll that looked like a human? It didn’t matter, all Krel knew was that Toby called him the Jimbo. Oh, and somehow the boys ended up still alive. 

So yeah, Krel was exhausted. 

“...And that’s how we ended up at HexTech, where we found you,” Toby yawned as he finished talking, his voice reminding Krel that he was still there. 

Toby and Steve--who were now his two closest friends on Earth--told him that he had to ‘hear the full story’ before going to rest. Reluctantly, he agreed to stay near the weird sword that everyone had apparently named ‘excalibur’ and waited to see their explanation. It was for the better, considering the amount of death he had watched in the last few days--Mama and Papa included. He didn’t want to be next. Krel looked up, unsure of what to say, there seemed like a lot to unpack there. 

“Erm...wow,” he said, giving a nervous chuckle, hoping that was enough for now. Sleep deprivation clouded his usually curious mind. 

“Yeah.” Toby gave an understanding nod, seemingly sympathetic of his friend’s empty reply. Stretching out his limbs, he used his foot to gently shake Steve awake. The blonde had been sleeping flat on his face for awhile now, and neither of the other two teens had the heart to wake him up seeing how hard it had been for him explaining what happened in the past. 

Steve groaned as he stood up, looking in Krel’s direction. He might’ve been trying to smile, but stayed silent. The sunlight shined in his face as he stood near excalibur. The three boys just stared at each other for a minute before Toby opened his mouth to speak. 

“Anyways I don’t know about you bu-” The trollhunter was cut off by a red blur, flying right past him into Krel.

The akiridion gave a terrified scream as his back was slammed into a nearby tree, and he realized that was not a red blur, but one of the demigods from earlier. Bellroc, he thinks is their name, held him against the bark. Their hands burned into his akiridion skin---that was going to scar.

He panicked, kicking his feet and yelling repeatedly for his friends as they came for him. At the rate Bellroc’s hands were digging into his skin, it was as if they were in slow motion. The demigod’s mouth formed into a cruel smile, their sadistic laughter echoing throughout the forest. It was only when Krel heard them speak did he stop freaking out for a second. 

“Gaylen’s heir….” they said, barely above a whisper, but enough to make Krel’s core race.

“What?” the akiridion asked, sure his face was painted with his current emotional state, which was all over in place.

He saw his friends getting closer, and as they did Bellroc’s mysteriously evil grin grew bigger. Yet instead of doing anything, they simply said, “This won’t be the last of us.”

The demigod’s second pair of eyes met Krel’s own glowing blue irises, sending a chill up his spine before dropping him and flying away. He landed on his knees, and Steve put a hand on his shoulders, steadying the shaken up boy.

“You okay?” his concern was present through both his voice and face. Toby leaned down as well.

Bellroc’s words replayed in his head. What was that supposed to even mean? Gaylen’s core was gone. He and Aja had defeated Morando themselves. He was sure of it. Krel glanced at the blonde still in armor, lying straight through his teeth.

“I’m fine.”


	2. Heading for destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah finally, I'm very slow. Also, thank you to the comments I got on the last chapter, I really appreciate them, and I hope this is somewhat enjoyable for someone out there at least :3

Krel paced around his lab late in the night as he searched for his most recently looked at collected data and information. 

It’s been a month, since that dawn in the woods with his friends...and being attacked. Most things have returned to normal or well, they tried at least. He and his friends _have_ been enjoying their days off from school, occasionally visiting Jim who stayed with the other trolls in the makeshift ‘trollmarket.’ (Apparently, trolls couldn’t go in sunlight which was rather unfortunate in Krel’s opinion, but nobody ever asked the few times Toby and Claire let him tag along to their trips.) Still, that didn’t stop the world from ending, albeit the process was a little slower this time. 

The akiridion scrolled through his multiple holographic screens, seeking for his file. There had been a lot of work he’d done in the past few weeks, between now being the Guardian’s main tech support and his own dabbling within different projects. While it wasn’t exactly convenient, taking into account sleep or time until the next apocalypse, he felt that it was alright. He enjoyed it, it made him useful.

Well, usually anyways.

“Ay yi yi…” he muttered to himself, taking a seat in the nearby floating chair. It wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for. Within seconds, akiridion letters translated to english were across the top of the screen. He gave a satisfied smile, mentally patting himself on the back. He stared at the information, neatly separated in one big folder, reminding him of being pinned against the tree once more. 

**_Gaylen’s Heir_ **

Truthfully, he had no idea what Gayken’s Heir meant, but Krel had been obsessed with finding out what the demigod’s words meant for about 3 weeks. Even on akiridion-5, Gaylen’s _Heir_ was unheard of everywhere he went, non-existent. It shouldn’t mean anything really--his friends think he should just be grateful nothing too bad happened, which was fair. All he had gotten was a couple of easy-to-heal burns but still---Bellroc’s words never left him, despite his best efforts to ignore them.

Maybe it was the familiarity of Gaylen, considering the prior tragedies or the amount of distractions that it gave to help cope from said tragedies but there was something that simply demanded his attention about it. Not to mention, he did still have a _slight_ grudge about what happened before with the demigods, and it would be satisfying to have the upperhand next time they met. The akiridion sighed, refocusing on the screen and softly gripping onto his hair. It was nearly four am---he hasn’t gone to sleep yet. He probably should.

There was a lot to see in the folder, between the original lore of Gaylen and the new information regarding what happened with Morando. The thought made him grimace--if only they had known before. Despite so many nights spent on it, the only thing he did manage to accomplish was being called ‘obsessive’ over his ‘nerdy project’ multiple times though. He could thank Steve for that. And Krel could admit that sometimes it took failure to succeed, but at least when he failed he learned a new way to _not_ do something. With this, he was never going to get anywhere he hadn’t been through before. 

So he deleted it. 

Actually, that was a lie. He deleted _most_ of it---only about 2 files were left when he heard a distant crackling, which seemed to be coming from nearby. Krel looked around perplexed, nobody lived with him other than the Blanks and they weren’t around. Then it happened again, only this time significantly louder, scaring the tired akiridion. 

He quickly jumped up, steadily and not-so-stealthily walking out to his living room. Realizing he left his serrator in his bedroom, he grabbed the broom quietly as possible (which was actually very loud) and crouched, trying his best to be silent. It wasn’t working, considering he was even worse at athletic activities when tired. Still, after about five seconds of listening he jumped up, attempting to make a surprise attack. 

Giving his fiercest battle cry and wildly swinging around his broom, he yelled, “Reveal yourself!” 

His eyes were shut tight in fear. It took longer than it should’ve for him to realize nobody was there. Favoring to trust his natural glow rather than turn on a light, he walked quietly and looked around slightly frustrated that his own hearing betrayed him. The dark room held no one.

Krel guessed he really did need that sleep. Going straight to his bedroom instead of the lab, he got into bed, closing his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow and trying to ignore the way his door shut on it’s own. It was probably the air conditioning anyways.

* * *

Technology was incredibly loud when it wanted attention. That was the conclusion Krel had come to as he groaned and rolled over in his bed, grabbing his phone off his nightstand. The covers shifted, undoing their purpose of keeping him snug--although he already felt kind of warm anyways. He checked the small back device, and read the multitude of texts that came from his friends reminding him of the ice cream they were supposed to get at this very moment. 

Well, kleb.

Jumping out of bed, Krel simply rolled straight onto the floor before getting up fresh as new and taking a look at the clock sitting by his bed. It was 3 pm--that explains the number of texts. Grabbing his serrator and turning on the transduction he walked out to the kitchen, where pancakes were _still_ glued to the ceiling, each gradually peeled off and fell onto a different plate. Ricky sat in the kitchen, reading his daily newspaper. 

Krel picked up a plate and shoved a pancake down his face pouting after he was done. It didn’t taste as good when it had been on the ceiling for so long. Giving a quick ‘hello’ to his robotic parent, he moved on until he saw the kitchen. Where the stove should’ve been it’s usual black color as it always was when it was turned off, it instead glowed a purplish color--leaning more on the red side than blue. 

Krel shrugged and turned it off, it was likely just another one of Lucy’s antics. Stepping outside the door, he started his walk towards the ice cream shop, gently rubbing his arms as cool air spread over them despite the sunlight. 

* * *

Everyone else seemed to feel warmth from the sun---which is how Krel understood it was supposed to be---but as of right now the currently tan-skinned akiridion only felt the chill of the air instead. It was about the third time, as the short phases came and went through hot and cold. As if that wasn’t enough, the feeling of someone watching him crept over his every move, but he didn’t want to alert his friends, not yet. Claire and Toby had been walking beside him, eating ice cream as well.

“This is nice, _”_ Claire spoke up, looking up from her cone. Toby, who was in between both her and Krel, stared back, raising his eyebrows in confusion as to what she was referencing. Claire continued, “Not doing anything I mean---just relaxing.” She gave a peaceful smile, 

Toby grinned back. “Yeah,” he said, taking another lick of his ice cream. “I guess it is.” 

Krel didn’t say anything, but watched from the sidelines, softly admiring their friendship. He imagines it’s nice to be so close to someone other than a sibling---who constantly ran away, but that’s not the point. The three of them walked until they reached a crosslight, blocking them from getting to the other end of the street. Krel finished his cone, and attempted to warm himself from the misplaced cold when he looked upward. 

There in the distance, under the shading of Benoit’s was Bellroc, standing with the same vicious grin that they had the last time Krel saw them. Panic rushed into Krel’s veins as he frantically notified his friends of the demigod. He elbowed Toby, pointing in the direction of where Bellroc stood. “Look!” he exclaimed. 

Claire glanced where he was referring to as well, and then gazed back at him confused. “What’re we looking at?” she asked.

Krel peered to where Bellroc was, or rather where they had been. They were gone now, leaving only the empty tables that were always outside of the diner. “Krel…?” Toby asked.

A bewildered Krel widened his eyes and rubbed them. “They were just there….I’m sure of it…” he said, squinting and straightening his back a little, as if that would make them reappear.

The other teens just looked at each other, unsure of what to do. “Oookay then…” Toby said, resuming his conversation with Claire as they finally crossed the street. 

Krel took one last peek at where Bellroc had been standing, the same tables with umbrellas on top were still there. He blinked again--there had definitely been _someone_ there. He knew it. Sighing, he ran to catch up with his friends, deciding he’d deal with this problem later.

* * *

There is _nothing_ wrong with Krel. 

Since being at the crosswalk, both members of the Arcane Order had shown up multiple times, yet never long enough for anyone else to see them resulting in being given a few looks from his friends. But he knew that they were there, from the rapid temperature changes to the way they hid in plain sight--which Krel had thought was pretty smart, even if he did hate them for it. 

It was when he started jumping at the rustling of the leaves did his friends suggest that maybe he try to go home, that it would maybe help the paranoia. Personally, Krel thought it was unnecessary, but he agreed nonetheless, more because he wanted to find out what was happening than debunk his suspicions. 

“Goodnight,” he said to his friends, as it was around 6 pm and the sun was setting. They said their goodbyes as well, and Krel hurriedly rushed back home.

Well, he tried not to hurry for at least 2 minutes, give or take, though It didn’t take long for his feet to start picking up when he heard the wind suddenly pick up in the neighborhood, and a thin blue substance formed on the ground. The sound of people walking surrounded him, despite nobody being outside made the human hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he pulled his serrator out, waiting for what would happen next. It was just seconds for the thin substance to start to approach him, and Krel realized it was actually ice. He gasped, deactivating the transduction and taking a fighting stance only to realize not only did he have no battle skills but was completely lost on how to fight the ice, making a pathway towards him.

Chills were sent up his limbs and spine as it got closer, eventually leaving him stuck in a closed area where the last part of the regular street was. That was the worst of it--or so he thought. Krel yelped as icicles shot up from the ground trapping him even more in the confined space, the crystal clearness would have been comforting had it not been nearly taking out his eyes. 

Then he felt a small gust of wind as a black cloak flew by him. That wasn’t good. The cloak with horns glided down, so that he directly faced Krel, looking straight at him--it was Skrael, which was to be expected by now. Krel opened his mouth to say something, but before uttering a single word, the demigod gave an unnerving smile, lifted his hands, and before he knew it Krel was hit with what was probably the hardest piece of wood he’d ever felt. He tried to recover, and listen to the chattering that had happened but before he could, he was hit 3 more times.

The last thing he heard before closing his eyes was Skrael’s laughter, accompanied by the sound of his body hitting the ground as the ice disappeared from around him.


	3. There's a fire in the sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I hated the making of this chapter and it has several flaws, but I like to believe it turned out sort-of alright fghjkjhg

Toby smiled back at every pleasant look he got as he followed Jim and Claire through the small community the trolls had built in the woods near Arcadia. He and Claire had decided to visit after their ice cream trip---Krel had been there as well, but eventually had gone home. He probably needed to, the guy seemed to be going a little crazy.

Since having no luck in New Jersey, and the amulet’s destruction, the species had been left homeless. Though, if the trolls were anything after having trollmarket destroyed and the eternal night, it was resourceful. It was kind of great really, how trees had been cut and shaped to build new homes, each with their own personal style. 

Still, despite the adaptations Toby knew that the woods would never be the same as trollmarket for the trolls, his friends, or Toby himself. After so much time, the underground society would always hold a special place in his heart. 

“And here we are!” Toby nearly bumped into Jim as the half-troll’s voice sliced through his thoughts. “Home sweet home!” 

His best friend looked content with his smaller house, or it was at least smaller than the others. The cozier one-story shelter seemed big enough to fit three Aaarrrgghh-sized trolls, meaning it could fit a whole party of humans. The wide L-shaped home had layers of branches and leaves on top as a roof. Stones were used as a walkway, and some plants made the front “yard” look nice. Honestly, it wasn’t too shabby if Toby thought so himself.

“Jim this is amazing!--you made this?” Claire moved towards the door, and Toby realized that although she had visited her troll boyfriend more than even Toby---who had to be there daily for Nana, considering she was still legally blind---this was her first time seeing the house as well. 

“Yeah!” Toby joined in on the praise. “It even works without a door,” he said, staring at the empty spot. It was odd, but pleasing.

Jim, on the other hand, gave a rare prideful smile, guiding them inside the small cottage-like home. “If you think this is good, you should see inside!” he said excitedly, walking inside the doorless home---actually, now that Toby thinks about it that’s pretty unsafe for someone who ends up in danger every other weekend. 

“This is enormous!” Claire exclaimed, holding her hands out and turning in circles--Toby had to agree. Free space was everywhere, showing off the auburn color of the sycamore heartwood floor. The inside, even if less decorated, was still rather nice though. The kitchen and living room were filled with human items, most were old but Barbara had also donated some necessities, like the plates set on the table. 

He came up to her side, grabbed her hand and twirled her while shrugging. “I don’t think it’s _that_ big!” He gave her a small smile.

Toby wandered off to the side, watching them fondly. Shelves filled with various trinkets, were on one of the nearby--also huge--walls.There were some old gaggletacks, trollish weapons, even a few snow globes, but the only thing that really caught Toby’s eye was a pile of strange gems. Each had a beautiful ombré pattern and their own color, that radiated a slight glow onto its surroundings. There were eight of them, all arranged to lay neatly next to each other.

“Hey what’re these?” he asked, reaching out to the one that’s colors ranged from white to black. In the middle of the surprisingly smooth gem was grey, that blended wonderfully into the two end colors. There didn’t seem to be an imperfection in sight. 

Jim walked over and kneeled down to take a look next to his much short best friend. “Mmm we don’t know yet, saw them on the trip to New Jersey and not even Blinky has a clue of where they came from,” he said, taking the bluish-green one in his hand and rubbing it. “I got to keep them though, since I a--” he stopped himself, and his smile dropped. “-- _was_ the trollhunter.”

Claire came around draping her arms over her boyfriend’s shoulder, and Toby offered a reassuring smile as Jim sighed sadly. “Come on,” she said, changing the subject. “Let’s find something good to eat!” 

Jim picked up one of the spoons on the shelf before Toby slapped it out of his hand. “Something that’s not silverware,” he said sternly, scolding his friend.

The troll laughed sheepishly before getting up to find something more edible.

* * *

Toby sent one last goodnight text to Jim before getting into bed and climbing under the covers, trying to find tonight’s way of getting to sleep with Aaarrrgghh’s snoring--he loved the big guy, but finding time to sleep was always a challenge on it’s own, hearing the awfully loud sound was just another problem to add to the list. 

Toby knew he was doing better than all of his friends though, suddenly remembering Krel again. It wasn’t like the akiridion had never been paranoid before, but that had been pretty bad, even for him. Sighing, the tired boy closed his eyes, and pulled the covers over his shoulders before going to sleep. 

He was sure that everything would be fine in the morning.

* * *

Toby felt the air conditioning get cooler as Claire put her hand up against a scanner, instantly shutting and locking the door as she sat in one of the nearby chairs. “Alright,” she said, her voice and tone even. “What do we know so far?”

She, along with Toby, Jim, and Steve sat in one of the bigger rooms of the Janus Order’s old underground maze, once again attempting to figure out what to do about Nari the apocalypse-to-come. It wasn’t the way Toby preferred to spend his summer, he’d much rather to be where he was yesterday---running around trolls with his best friends but he guesses that’ll have to wait this time around. And maybe the next as well.

“Guys?” Claire took a seat at the table where most of the information they had was already projected onto a holographic screen. 

The guardians had decided that with a little fixing up, the janus order’s old hideout was the best, (and only) place to use for their missions after Douxie had fled with Nari, considering that most had no idea it existed and the bookstore had lost it’s magic with Merlin kicking the bucket. It was actually pretty cozy if they ignored the lingering stench of changeling bones anyways. Krel was even able to change all of the entrances and computers to be activated by their fingerprints or voices. It had become kind of fun, simply using their hands to disappear into the surroundings like all the movies. Speaking of the engineer, where was he anyways? 

Jim sat next to Toby, with the umbrella that helped the troll protect himself from sunlight on the floor nearby. “The Order has the genesis seals,” he offered--it was an obvious start, but then again it had to be better than their last few plans which proceeded to go nowhere.

Steve was on Toby’s right, back hunched and much to everyone else’s surprise was quiet, not that anybody complained either though. 

Claire put her hand up to her chin, holding her head in thought. “Right,” she said, flipping to another slide on the screen. “Don’t the seals destroy the world?

“Yeah but they have to do something else, right? Why would Merlin keep the key to destroying the world right in the Order’s grasp?” Toby spoke up. To him it wouldn’t make sense--sure, he despised Merlin for _certain_ actions pertaining to his best friend but he thinks the guy would be smarter than that.

Then again, he was Merlin.

“He was a pretty weird old man…” Claire looked up, at the holograph again--seriously, where was Krel?---”but I’m sure he had a reason. He had a reason for everything.”

Toby scoffed. “Not a very good one.”

“Guys, focus we--” Jim says, suddenly resting both arms on the table, right before the sound of broken glass came from outside the room. Immediately an alarm rang out about three times before going silent, though chaos could still be heard from the hallways.

“What’s happening?” Steve frantically stood up, opening his mouth for what seemed like the first time. Nobody answered him, instead favoring to run out the room to see what was wrong, heading towards the room full of cameras. Toby couldn’t hear anything over the violent shouting, there were only four of them but somehow absolute chaos broke out. The shorter boy simply followed Claire, who followed Jim and every so often looked back to see Steve following him. 

They didn’t even need to get to the cameras to see the real problem. 

“Woah...” Jim said, skidding to a stop and abruptly forcing everyone behind him to halt their running--and rightfully so. Out of all the tragedies that could’ve happened, the massive amount of what was seemingly snow that coated the hallway floor, walls, and ceilings had to be one of the weirdest in Toby’s opinion. 

“Uh...what?” Claire stared in confusion at the “threat” that sat in front of them.

“Is...is this a problem?” Steve asked.

“Huh,” Jim said, turning around to talk with Claire. Meanwhile, Toby walked up to the snow, putting a hand in it and patting it. Oddly enough, the substance wasn’t cold. Actually, it was incredibly warm, and while Toby hadn’t seen it more than twice on winter trips out of Arcadia---the town had a lot of things, but snow wasn’t one of them--he knew that it was definitely not supposed to be _warm._

Then a small, crackling sound, and looked up only to gasp at what he saw. Toby stood up, his hands shaking as he slowly took a few steps backwards. He peered back at his friends, thinking of how to warn them. Instead of possibly attracting the creature’s attention, he just cleared his voice incredibly loud---which didn’t make much of a difference but he gave a good effort. 

Steve was the first to notice, giving a weirdly silent incoherent scream. All three of the others stared back at him in response, causing Jim and Claire to look up as well. 

“What is _that_?” Jim asked, his eyes widened.

Coming towards the teens, a bundle of flames in the shape of a human were miraculously spreading across the snow, in a single straight line. The flaming person seemed to have no feet, though it’s arms reformed every few seconds, spreading out to the walls and seemingly reaching for the group who stood in horror. Luckily nothing was damaged due to the snow, that acted as a padding between the walls and fire.

“Claire…” Jim steadily backed. “A portal would be great right now,” he said, the slight panic in his voice unmasked as the hideous human-like creature started to come at a faster rate, as if hearing the groups plan.

“Right!” the girl exclaimed, extending her arms in preparation. “Where to?”

That was when the being really started to accelerate, it’s arms flailed fast enough to leave it’s conjoined legs dragging behind as it raced. 

“Anywhere but here would be nice!” Toby yelled, reaching for his warhammer only to realize he didn’t have it, now regretting his decision to leave it on his dresser. 

“Hop in, I don’t know how much longer I can hold this!” Claire shouted, opening a shadow portal just in the nick of time, allowing Toby to conveniently _avoid_ having his face melted to ashes. 

* * *

The four tumbled out onto a patch of grass, fortunately landing under the shading of some trees and quickly standing up, relieved that they made it out on time. Jim moved further beneath the treetops---Toby was glad he at least took the precaution. The troll didn’t need to die, not again at least. 

“Do any of you buttsnacks know what that was?” Steve finally decided to speak up.

Claire glared at Steve for some unknown reason, but before opening her mouth Jim spoke up silencing whatever she was about to say. “I don’t know, but whatever it was, it was out for us.” 

Toby nodded in agreement--that was undeniable seeing as he was just thrust into a pile of leaves in order to run from it. 

“I mean, it must’ve come from what’s left of the Arcane Order,” Jim said, deeply in thought.

Before he was able to nod again, Toby then noticed the line of snowflakes dancing one after the other as if it was a parade, each with a different pattern. Following the trail, chills were sent up his spine as he noticed the open shadow portal that they were coming from. 

“Guys…” he said, although he was ignored. Either that, or his friends just had terrible hearing.

“They’re not even around! How would they attack us?” Steve piped up, joining in on the speculation, and simultaneously adding to Toby’s frustration.

“Guys..” Toby said again, the snow coming closer and he was pretty sure he could feel the heat of flames. 

“I’m sure there’s a thousand different ways someone could use magic to get in,” Claire said.

“Hey, over here!” Toby raised his voice, waving his arms while looking directly at his friends. Seriously, how did the portal stay up that long?

“What’s wro-” Claire turned around to see a pile of snow on the ground, a flaming arm sticking out of her portal. “Fudgenuckle.” 

Immediately Claire went on defense, but as for the rest--Jim, Steve, and Toby himself--they were powerless. The life form walked out, and interestingly enough, the snow acted as a pathway, going wherever the other went. 

“Run!” Claire yelled, fighting back using her own magic. “I’ll hold it back!”

“Claire…” Jim looked at her concerned, and while Toby knew how much he wanted to help, he also knew that it wasn’t safe for them. Making sure that Steve was able to run on his own, Toby yanked Jim’s hand, pulling him towards safety as he heard Claire shout. He hopes she’ll be alright on her own.

* * *

Tree branches were devastatingly hard to run through, and even worse to trip over.

Unfortunately, Toby knows that by heart now. Dusting the dirt off his sweater, he watched as his best friend paced around and Steve sat--surprisingly quiet--in the background. Jim continuously looked back at where Claire fought off the beings, a stroke of shadow magic becoming present ever so often.

“We can’t just leave her there!” he exclaimed.

“Well, we can’t go back,” Toby said. That was for sure. Besides, Claire was the most prepared out of all of them. He knew she could do it, she kind of had to. 

Knowing Toby was right, Jim deflated. “There has to be something that can help us,” he said, putting a hand to his chin again. Standing next to them Steve shrugged his shoulders, holding his hands up. 

Toby thought for a moment as the three sat quietly--Jim was right, there had to be something. He looked around. The sun was out, so that unfortunately was a strict no for any troll help, and he didn’t know any other cool wizards than Claire--except for Douxie but Toby has a feeling he isn’t available.

Then he remembered his other non-human friend. “Or someone!” Toby said, and both of the other boys turned to look at him confused. 

“Yeah, Krel must know something about it---we were out with him earlier and he was freaking out. Something about seeing or something!” The shorter boy got slightly more excited, thinking that they may have a lead, trying to ignore the guilt of not believing his friend yesterday.

Jim’s face lightened as he thought about it. “Alright, not perfect but that’s a good start,” he said. Then he saddened, and Toby followed his gaze to the sunlight.

“Steve and I can go, you stay!” Toby said, jerking the blonde by the hand. “Come on Steve!”

Steve sighed, exasperatedly. “When will it all end?”

* * *

“What is taking that buttsnack so long?” Steve’s expression of his impatience for the fifth time was starting to get a little annoying, but Toby couldn’t lie that he felt the same.

They had been waiting outside of Krel’s front door for ten minutes, and time was starting to get scarce, especially considering they were on the run. No telling when the next attack would come, not to mention they were weaponless---Toby knew from experience, you do _not_ want to be attacked defenseless. He knew he should’ve taken the warhammer today.

“He’s probably just busy, just a little longer and I’m sure he’ll be right back here telling us about his nerdy little projects!” At least, that’s what Toby hopes. 

Steve scoffed. “Yeah, alright.”

They waited for another ten minutes of silence--if you didn’t count Steve’s complaints it was silence anyways--before Toby heard the jock do something other than whine. “That’s it,” Steve said, inspecting the house. “I’m going in.”

“You’re what now?” Toby raised an eyebrow.

“I’m going in,” Steve said, opening a window and giving a determined face. 

“Steve you can’t just do that--- what if Krel’s in there?” 

“And what if he’s not?” asked Steve, finally hoisting himself up and over the walls. “I’ll let you in!”

Toby sighed. At least they were getting in. Though, he thinks this is a little long to be waiting--it wasn’t that hard to get inside and unlock a door. Hopefully Steve didn’t get hurt as well, or else they’d have even more unnecessary problems. He really should’ve tried to sto--

Suddenly Steve opened up from the inside, a grim look on his face as he let Toby in, and rightfully so. Chairs, dining tables, and various decorations were on the floor, resulting in broken glass being everywhere.

“Kre-,” Toby starts to call out, but Steve stops him. 

Instead the boy takes a more professional stance--which was incredibly... _different_ from what Toby usually saw in Steve. “I’ve already checked everywhere, if he’s home, he’s not up here,” the boy said eyeing the fireplace that led to the other parts of the ship. 

The two made their way to the more confined part of the ship, which although in much better condition than the more human part of the home, wasn’t too pleasant either. There was an eerie presence about the room as they walked in, tools littered the area and even Ricky’s head had rolled near them. Though he was able to manage, eventually getting it back on his shoulders and the sound of Lucy’s heels close by. 

“...what’s this?” Steve asked after awhile--he had gone to Krel’s work desk while Toby opted to check out the scene of the crime. The redhead went to where he stood, at Krel’s open computer file. He could only make out some of it, none enough to recognize the akiridion letters. Against his better judgement, he clicked on a different file, which was deleted. Then another one, also erased from existence. 

After as many files as he could manage in the next five minutes, along with bickering with Steve he clicked, all gone but the first one. Well that was a bust. Still, he made sure to keep the file open before taking one last glance over the entire room.

A few feet away lay a glowing, blue, protractor-looking object. “Oh no…” Toby muttered, spotting the serrator on the floor, confirming his worst fears. Between the destroyed home, the research, and one of Krel’s prized possessions on the floor, that was when he knew something was really wrong.

Krel was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3

**Author's Note:**

> :3


End file.
